What Prompted You to Play "Insert Your Iron Category Here" Irons?

[Scottyrocket]

Played Wilson blades as a teenager because my grandpa gave them to me. HS graduation my parents gave me a full set of Northwestern clubs. Really didn't play much in my 20's but then got addicted to it starting in my 30's. Can't remember all the iron sets but I think this is most of the list:

 

Henry Griffits

DCI something

Titleist 755-loved these irons don't know why I ever switched.

Mizuno MP-25 and JPX 900 forged

AP2 then AP 1-hated AP1 especially when I pay all this money at Club Champion for these and in the second round the 7 iron head goes flying down the fairway. They said they had a "bad batch of glue" 

PXG 0311

Miura MB-001

T100 and eventually T100s

 

This is probably inaccurate as far as order and I think there is more that I am missing. At first I was looking for the iron I wanted to keep for a long time and kept searching but I realize now that I just like buying irons and tinkering. I end up going through a bad stretch and blaming the irons which we all know is true! I am tempted to play a blade because I like the look and feel but for me they are for real punishing on thin hits which is my miss. At least the T100s aren't woefully short. 

[tannyhoban]

I decided I wanted irons that are generous and new.

 

Started early last year with Srixon Z565, didn’t get along with them. Moved through couple sets of AP2

and then combo set of 716CB/MB. 
Still not 💯 all in on any. End of year traded for a new set 6-P of Mizuno 921 HM  and 2 weeks later snagged PXG 0211DC 6-G.

 

I was very restless last year but confident either of these sets will work, so planning on a year with little to no turnover. Got everything else pretty well set. 

[Jaygolf37]

Great thread!  I’m in the “players distance” category.

It’s taken me a long time, experiments, & money to arrive here.  But i now wholeheartedly believe in hitting the most forgiving thing you can look at that hits the ball how you want.  For me, it is all about flight.  I play my best with a mid flight in a standard swing.

I found these Wilson Ci7’s at an estate sale. Had them bent to my specs.  And they’ve been a unicorn find.  I freaking love them.

My problem with some of the newer stuff is that in order to bring the flight down to the mid level, I either have to play with rebar as shafts, or I have to constantly try to hit knockdowns…which leads to inconsistent distances.  These Wilsons hit mid-range lasers.  I’m sure there is a more modern iron out there, but this coach can’t justify the cost.

[Hoyoymac]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:57 AM, arenapoutine said:

Went from players distance (Apex 19) to players cavity back (i210). Got sick of hot spot heaters and low spin shots going over the green on what felt like similar swings. i210s are much more consistent but still forgiving. They're way shorter - like two clubs shorter (retrospec lofts in i210 don't help me, ha) - but I don't care because I know what distance these will go. Tried to select the most forgiving but consistent iron out there and I'm happy enough with the result. 

Over the last few years I’ve switched from Game Improvement irons to Player’s Distance irons then to traditional Cavity Backs and now Blades because of what Arenapoutine posted above.  Got tired of getting the occasional shot that went 10 or 15 yards further than normal.

 

Now playing a set of Corey Paul Functional Art minimalist blades.  More traditional lofts. PW at 46 Degrees.  They look better, they feel better and are more consistent. 

 

During that time I’ve also been progressively going stiffer and heavier with my iron shafts.  Moved from KBS Tour 90 R to KBS Tour V 110 S to KBS $-Taper 120 S.   My dispersion has tightened up considerably as a result.

 

Also dropped my 3 wood and the 4 & 5 irons and added some 5 & 6 hybrids and a 7 wood.

 

A picture of my current set is attached.

[Nessism]

Been playing since 1983.  Blades then small cavities until (about) 2012, when on a lark I bought some Ping G10's off ebay after drinking a few beers.  First range trip was an epiphany; I never hit the ball so high and straight before.  I'm not the greatest player mind you, but I've been high single handicap since about '85.  I used to hate the look of large GI/SGI irons, but now they build confidence and I can't imagine going back.  

[kiwihacker]

Went from players cavity backs to my current Zx5s which I guess are categorized as players distance irons? I prefer a slightly smaller sized clubhead but still a forgiving cavity back design. These irons deliver that in spades. The 44° PW just means I play 5-PW with an extra wedge rather than 4-PW with a 47° PW. I am really enjoying these and am definitely noticing the extra forgiveness over my previous players cavity backs. 

[GHIN n Juice]

In the last year I went from P7mc to P770 to P790.  Honestly I could probably still play the 770s but my daughter’s soccer team is traveling more, and into the summer, while my son’s travel baseball team is starting to earn that “travel” tag.  I really enjoy going all over to watch them play so my range time is now nonexistent.  So, now forgiveness is more important than looks and feel.

Edited January 22, 2022 by GHIN n Juice

[Nard_S]

Play <insert here>"blades".

 

Was tired of the toe shot, figured tough love of MB was the ticket, never figured I would drop scores with it too.  Veered back to CB and scores went wrong way, been a blade guy since. Own 20 sets out of boredom but really play just two for last six years. But in the end, it's the weight that makes them work for me. 

[Stinger83]

Never played blades until about 2014. I think I was playing ap2 then.  Randomly bought a used set of Fourteen MB's used for like $299 at the store. Ended up trying them and by the end of that summer - I had shot my personal low TWICE with those clubs in a two month span. Been playing blades since. 

 

[A.Princey]

SGI, but need a medium(or thinner) topline and no chunky sole sticking out at address on the long irons. Feel comfortable with a good amount of help, and every iron feels equally easy to elevate and hit pure. Imagine a players CB profile, but with a 20-30% bigger footprint. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by A.Princey

[Pepperturbo]

Long story short, started golf at 40yrs old, with an off the shelf set of Pings.  About 8 months into learning a relative advised me to switch to blades to improve ball-striking.  So I bought a 1-PW set of Mizuno Blades, played them for a number of years.  My golf goal has always evolved around solid ball striking, sweeping motion, trajectory, spin and distance control.  Master those and score takes care of itself. 

 

There were a few other sets mixed in, but irons longest in the bag were 2-LW custom set of Macgregor blades, then 2-PW Titleist 670MBs, then 2-PW Callaway's Original X-forged then 2-PW Titleist 716 CBs, to current Titleist 620s.  To this day, I still get excited smacking a solid 620 long iron.  Played the other day, finished 3 over, as I chase my age.  It can be done.  Tom Watson is 72 and shot 68 the other day.

[NoTalentLefty]

My lack of practice and playing prompted me to play Cast Game improvement irons. Until this year went to a forged type game improvement in the PXG XP irons. The feel is amazing.

[Henru]

I still play a set of Titleist 712 Forged CBs that my father bought new for me in high school (I am 25 now). The clubs look fantastic, feel great and I've kept them in fantastic condition. I've never thought about getting new irons until this year's (2021) T100... they look gorgeous. Too bad I've got no money to blow, guess I'll stick with reshafting/regripping the CBs 😆 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Henru

[aenemated]

I learned to play with a set of chopped down Muirfields my dad picked up for me when I was a kid in the 80s. As a result, MBs just look right to my eye. I did rock some Lynx Parallax for several years as I was a massive Freddie Couples fan but as I got older and better, kinda got more into Nick Faldo's game. So I saved up my summer job money and bought myself a set of Mizuno MP14s.

 

Played those for the rest of the 90s and they stayed with me through my step away from the game. When I came back to it - the first time - I traded them for a set of Nike CBs of some sort. One of the progressive sets but dang if I can recall which ones. 

 

When I came back for real, it was just an adventure to find what fit for me. I've gone through so many sets in the last 4 years just searching. And what it came down to is when I finally coughed up the money to have the P7TWs built to my specs I'd figured out through fittings and trial and error ... welp, they're the ones.

 

The tungsten insert is what really separates them from other MBs for me. And they're really not that hard to hit! And man, they're just gorgeous. 

[ohioglfr]

I started out with an old bag, an assortment of mismatched blades and persimmons in the early '80's.  Went with Armour 845 when they came out, then 855 (which were diggers, at least for my swing), then Ping i3 Blades (an odd name for a cavity back) which I liked a lot and played until 2015. Then, since I'm old and my swing slowed, got Ping G's and have played them since.  Pretty much a shovel player all these years.

[golfiteach]

I play Honma XP-1 irons because I developed tendonitis in my wrist, and these irons came with graphite shafts.  I also tended to hosel-rocket my Mizuno 919 forges and was looking for something a little more chunky looking on the top line.  I will probably lose my WRX card for admitting this, but I dropped two stokes on my handicap, broke par for the first time ever, and won all my matches on a Ryder Cup weekend all within two months sooooo……. I’m ok with playing these game improvement shovels.  😊

Edited January 23, 2022 by golfiteach

[Tupperwolf]

Currently playing Cobra blades: I was playing i210 which are great irons but I wasn't happy with the turf interaction and wanted to try some thinner soles.  I also was looking to test out some X100 shafts again as it had been a few years and I occasionally hit huge slinging hooks with the DG120S in the Pings.  Spent some time searching eBay and found a set of Cobra blades with the X100s for a great price.  After playing them for a bit I swapped out the X100s for some Elevate Tours that are PUREd because I snagged them for an awesome price.  I built up the 4i to match the set with a matching PURE'd shaft.  Overall I hit them pretty well out on the course.  I might gain a stroke here or there with some players' CBs but I enjoy playing the blades.  Club ho'ing is over for now because of a baby on the way so I'm going to play them for the forseeable long term - I have some Scratch AR-1s 4-PW which I'd like to have refinished but that's a vanity project for another day.

[m3fuz]

~20 years ago I had played MP-33s and before that 690MBs, then RACS and finally MX-23s (club hopper back then, but all over the map).  Then I stopped playing for 10+ years and am coming back to the game and bought into GI irons because it’s really like starting over to some extent.  Rebuilding a swing plane and tempo, though knowing what it’s supposed to resemble, is a slower process when you don’t have the time to practice, so I wanted forgiveness and was willing to forego workability and distance.   

[SammyShaf]

I started with a set of Taylormade Burner LCGs that I bought off a member at the course I worked at back in 2010.  My uncle sent me his irons when he quit due to neck issues, so I moved on to Titleist DCI blacks.  Gave those to my brother and bought a set of CG16s.  Traded those in for MP57s when I started working at Golfsmith.  Got a sweet brand ambasdador deal from Mizuno and played 850 forged 4&5, MP15 6-PW as the first set of irons fit to me.  Finally landed on 712MBs that I got virtually for free after trading in my MP57s.

 

When I was fit, the fitter spent an hour with me and told me to play the most forgiving head I can stand looking at.  Now, I don't play as often but love looking in the bag and seeing clubs that I think look cool.  My scores are more linked to the Jeykll/Hyde driver performance, so I don't see a considerable difference between blades/cavity backs that most claim to see.  

 

[Trouble_shooter]

Taylormade speedblades, mainly because I dump an obscene amount of money on my short game. I purchased a set of ping i210 custom irons and was given a 10-12 week wait time. I emailed them directly at 12 weeks and was told another 12 weeks, canceled and back to the speed blades lol

[LeftyMatt24]

2021 T100 here. I’ve played every players distance or players club over the last two years and Titleist works for my delivery and I like the look of them. My scores are very much dependent at my course on how I’m driving it and my short game. 

[DCCarpenter]

Wilson FG53 Gooseneck irons for me. 

I started golf last year with a half set (3,5,7,9,Pw) of Alpha cavity backs that were almost 1” too short. I picked up some 2001 Cobra oversized cavity backs for $50 with worn out grips that I just couldn’t get along with. Fought my way to a best score of 87 but mostly using 3/7/9/11 woods to get there. Knew I needed to improve my iron game to get lower as I rode unusually good putting all 4 times I broke 90.
 

Posted on here about using some blades to practice with, got Wilson FG53 Goosenecks with graphite shafts off eBay. Several people said I should game what I practice with so the blades went in the bag(7/9/PW/SW for now). Hitting great at the range and chipping and pitching over 2 rounds have gone well.
 

Full shots on course with 7/9 a work in progress , course conditions are a bit rough and challenging. 

[Snuckerpooks]

Playing players cavity back?

 

Started with XR Pro irons, went to P790 for distance. Got too much distance and went to ping iBlades with traditional loft. Distances were dialed back in but wanted more forgiveness. Went with Honma players cavity back irons.

 

Currently playing Honma TR20V w/ 105S carbon shafts.

[craz-e]

I ended up playing blades or player cavity irons after testing many different irons from grass and the usual (driving range) mats and coming to the conclusion an iron with a narrow sole works better for myself. Strike was better